Film, Race & Representation:
Some Strategies for Research
Film, Race & Representation:
Some Strategies for Research
Film, Race & Representation:
Some Strategies for Research
Gary Handman
Media Resources Center
Moffitt Library
ghandman@library.berkeley.edu
643-8566
1. Describe the types of writing and research
about film
2. Introduce selected sources for finding books
and journal articles in film studies & related
fields
3. Discuss how to select article databases (and
determine what’s in them)
4. Discuss how to develop search strategies
Writing About Film…
Scholarly/
In-depth
Current
Pop and fan
Industry
Historical
Sources for Film & Scholarship and Research
•Periodicals (aka magazines,
journals)
•Newspapers
•Reviews
•Critical/Scholarly Articles
•Books
•Web Sites (more about this
later…)
•Other online databases
Periodical Articles:
Reviews? Critical Writing? What’s the diff?
Reviews:
•Assessment of aesthetic and content merits of a
film
Found in popular periodicals, film periodicals, and
(less often) in more scholarly journals
In pop periodicals: Current and Historical (older)
Usually cover current releases, more pop theatrical
releases
Tend to be relatively short and relatively
superficial (with some exceptions and depending on
the publication and who’s doing the writing)
Periodical Articles:
Reviews? Critical Writing? What’s the Diff?
Critical analysis:
Discuss films in:
broader historical, cultural, political, artistic
context and/or
Focus on a specific aspect of a film, film
genre, or filmmaker
Found in books and scholarly or film-related
journals
Tend to be longer, more substantive than reviews
(with some exceptions and depending on the
publication and who’s doing the writing)
Often include notes, bibliographies, other
scholarly apparatus
Critical/Scholarly Articles
Found in:
•Film studies
& scholarly journals in other
disciplines—eg:
•Language & Lit
•Women’s studies
•History
•Ethnic Studies
•Area studies…etc.
•Web sites (even less
occasionally…except for
academic and commercial
databases)
Film Scholarship & Film Criticism
Movies = 100+ Years
Film Scholarship = 50 years
William Dickson (Edison labs)
invents The Kinetoscope
1889
1895
1950’s
1960’s
Film Studies
Film Scholarship
Writing
film&=Louis
fan and
industry
perspectives until 1950’s/60’s
Brothersabout
Auguste
Lumiere
stage
1st public film screening, Paris
Scholarly Articles and Reviews
Reviews
Critical/ScholarlyArticles
Massood, Paula.
"Mapping the Hood, The Genealogy of City Space
in Boyz-n-the-Hood and Menace-II-Society.
Cinema Journal, 1996 winter, v35 n2:85-97. )
Ansen, David.
"Boyz N the Hood." (movie reviews) Newsweek
v118, n3 (July 15, 1991):56.
Books
•Scholarly/authoritative works
•Pop schlock and fan works
How Do You Tell em’ apart?
• Author’s credentials/affiliations
• Publisher (e.g. BFI, AFI, University
Presses vs pop press)
• Scholarly apparatus and sources:
notes, bibliographies, other
documentation
• If they’ve been widely cited by other
scholars
…But how do you locate all this stuff?
•Catalogs: Pathfinder (Gladis)
•Article databases (Indexes)
Al Jolson
…But how do you locate all this stuff?
Pathfinder
Inventory of what the
Library owns:
Books
Journals (BUT NOT what’s
inside of them!!!!!!)
Media
Manuscripts, documents,
maps…etc. etc. etc. etc.)
Search by:
•Author
•Title
•Subject (keywords)
Articles/Reviews
(how do you find this
stuff?)
Article databases
(aka Indexes)
Film-related (not many exist)
General news
Literary and Arts
Other disciplines: e.g. Women’s
Studies, American Studies, Ethnic
Studies, History…etc.
Article Databases
(how do you know which
ones to use?)
Jumping Off point for
Finding Online Indexes:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/
Once You Find a
Journal Citation,
How Do You Find the Article?
•Some indexes provide holdings info
[UC eLinks]
•Some indexes link to full-text
If neither…use Pathfinder
to look up the JOURNAL
by title
How to Begin? Before you click: THINK
•Formulate a concise, concrete statement of the
research problem
•Formulate your search in terms of
keywords and key phrases:
The impact of television advertising
and television violence on school
performance and pre-adolesecent
social interaction.
How to Begin? Before you click: THINK
•Think of synonyms for key words/phrases
Academic achievement
Grades
…etc.
Commercials
Ads
…etc.
Children
Youth
Adolescents
…etc.
The impact of television advertising
and television violence on school
performance and pre-adolesecent
social interaction.
Media
TV…etc
Socialization, relationships,
peer interaction…etc.
Once you’ve found something that looks promising,
Check out the “official” subject headings
Common Search Features:
--Save list of good stuff
--Mail Articles/Citations to yourself
The Information Universe
Remember Also:
•Not every topic has lots written about it,
either in books or journal lit.
--Research on very current topics
--Research on extremely specific topics
--Research on topics off the beaten
academic track or off the pop culture
radar
What to do if too much is turning up:
•Narrow your topic:
•e.g.: geographically, chronologically; by race,
gender, ethnic group;
•Specific focus or aspect of the topic (e.g. ethical,
social, economic, political aspects)
What to do if nothing is turning up:
•Broaden your topic / go for the more general / select
a different angle
•Rethink your search strategy (new keywords, new
concepts, etc.)
•Bail out and choose another topic
Connecting from off-campus
Instructions at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/
HELP/CONNECTING FROM OFF CAMPUS
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/FilmBibMenu.html
a growing listing of bibliographies on various film topics
and individual films compiled by MRC (includes bibs for
genres, filmmakers, national cinemas, and individual film).
…being driven totally bananas by your
research?
Call me:
Gary Handman
643-8566
ghandman@library.berkeley.edu